Guard post for loading docks

ABSTRACT

A guard post to prevent damage to the doorway of a loading dock and in particular damage to the guide rails for an overhead door is disclosed. The guard post is anchored and braced to the floor in close proximity to the opening of the loading dock and blocks contact of a lift truck with the guide rails of the door that are located on the interior face of the loading dock opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a guard post and more particularly to a guardpost that is used on a loading dock of a warehouse or other buildingwhere material is handled primarily through the utilization of forklifts and other loading equipment.

In the prior art it has been customary to anchor a cylindrical postdirectly into the foor, which is usually concrete, of a warehouse andthen fill the cylindrical post with concrete to stiffen the same. Inthis type of application the posts are positioned to protect the dooropening but if they are hit by a lift truck with any particular force,they will bend or become dislodged from the embeddment in the concretefloor and become utterly useless, it requiring considerable repair workin order to replace or repair the damaged posts. It is thereforedesirable to have a guard post which may be positioned at the loadingdoor opening and which will restrain the handling equipment fromstriking the door opening. The guard posts should be self supporting andcapable of absorbing an impact with the handling equipment used in awarehose, and if struck with a sufficient severe impact be capable ofbeing quickly and easily replaced. It is therefore an object of thepresent invention to provide a guard post that is positioned at theopening of a loading dock door in a building which will provideprotection to the door opening and in particular to the guide rails ofan overhead door that would be positioned in the opening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an impact resistant guard post for theprotection of the loading door apparatus in a warehouse. The postcomprises an upright element preferably formed of an angle iron whichhas a base plate that is anchored to a floor and has a pair of bracemembers secured to the upright element to extend therefrom at an acuteangle. Each brace member is inclined at approximately 30° to the floorsurface and is anchored to the floor by a foot plate.

An object of the invention is to provide a guard post located at a dooropening of a warehouse building which will protect the opening hardwarefrom being damaged by load handling equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing guard posts of the instantinvention installed in place in an opening in a building;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view with parts broken awayshowing the orientation of the guard posts and the door opening;

FIG. 3 is a vertical front elevational view of the guard post;

FIG. 4 is a top view partly in section showing the guard post and itsrelationship in plan to the door opening in the building.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is concerned with a guard post which will protectan opening in a building, and more particularly the opening in abuilding of a warehouse type which has a loading dock to which trailertrucks and other vehicles would use and be loaded from the warehouse byhandling equipment such as lift trucks and the like. The guard post isdesigned to be placed adjacent the edge of the opening on either sidethereof and thus the guard post is deployed in pairs, there being arighthand guard post assembly and a lefthand guard post assembly.

Referring to the drawings, the guard post assembly comprises a baseplate 11, which is provided with two apertures therethrough designated12 and 13. Secured to the base plate and rising vertically therefrom isthe guard post generally designated 14 commonly known as an angle ironwhich is composed of a pair of plates that are right angularly arrangedto each other and which are designated 15 and 16. The guard post issecurely fastened to the base plate 11 as by welding and preferablyrises from the base plate a distance of approximately one meter in orderto provide the necessary protection with the utilization of most loadhandling equipment, although it will be understood that it can vary inits vertical extent depending upon a particular application. Extendingfrom the inner face of the element 15 are a pair of brace members 20 and21 which extend away from the member 15 at an acute angle thereto and atan acute angle to each other. The brace members may be conveniently madefrom tubular stock, the brace member 20 being secured as by welding at22 to an upper extent of the guard post 14, while the member 21 issecured as by welding at 23 to a lower extent of the guard post 14. Thebottom or outermost ends of the brace members are provided with footplates 25 and 26 and terminate at a level which is on the same planarextent of the base plate 11 at an angle to the foot plate on the orderof 60°. The foot plates 25 and 26 whose position relative to members 20,21 may vary, are respectively provided with apertures 27, 28.

The building in which the guard posts are utilized is provided with theusual outer wall 30 that may be of suitable masonry material or anyother normal building material and is normally provided with aprotective opening plate such as 32. The opening is conventionallysecured by an overhead door 35 which, as is well known to those skilledin the art, is made up of a plurality of sections that are guided forupward movement by guide rails such as 36, 37 and extending from a hingeassembly, such as 38, is a shaft 39 that carries a roller 40 thatengages in the rails such as 36 and 37.

As will be apparent particularly by examining FIG. 4, it will be seenthat the guard post of the instant invention has the face of member 15substantially in line with the opening through the building wall.Further, the guard post is positioned so that the distance between itand the rails 36 and 37 is small, something on the order of 50millimeters and will be secured in place by the use of lag bolts orother suitable fastening means that will grasp the floor which may beconcrete or the like securely.

It would be apparent that if a fork lift or other load-handlingequipment truck strikes the guard post that the brace members 20 and 21will support the post from deflection and under normal operatingconditions will prevent the post from being dislodged. Also because ofthe proximity to the opening, the load and/or the tines of the fork liftwill be prevented from striking the guide rails such as 36 and 37. Itwill be further apparent that the positioning of the brace members 20and 21 is such that a blow delivered to the guard post willsubstantially resist any movement or bending of the guard post.

The present invention, therefore, provides a guard post for placement atthe opening of a loading lock door which will protect the door andparticularly the guide rail for an overhead door from impact by virtueof handling equipment such as lift trucks and the like. Further, if theguard post is severely damaged by a blow, it may be easily replacedwithout the necessity of expensive construction and incident damage to aconcrete floor or other support floor on the inside of the buildingadjacent the loading dock door.

I claim:
 1. In a building having a loading dock opening with a door, aguard post for said opening comprising an upright element, a base plateadapted to be anchored to a supporting surface, two brace memberssecured to said upright element, said brace members extending away fromsaid upright element at an acute angle to each other, said uprightelement secured to said base plate, said brace members being secured tosaid element at a vertical position substantially intermediate thereofand extending away from the element at an acute angle to the verticalextent thereof, means at the terminus of the brace members to anchor thesame to a supporting surface, said upright element located substantiallyin line with said opening and closely adjacent thereto to block contactof a lift truck with the interior face of said opening.
 2. In a buildinghaving a loading dock door as in claim 1 wherein said upright element isspaced from said opening by a small distance to prevent the tines of alift truck from becoming wedged between the guard post and the opening.